From patched to permanent: Fayetteville to repair East Rodgers Dr.

UPDATED 4:13 PM CDT Jul 22, 2013

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -

Starting Monday, neighbors can expect to see construction workers in the road repairing East Rodgers Drive in Fayetteville. City leaders said they will no longer be "patching up the problem" and plan to fix the street for good.

Chris Brown, Fayetteville city engineer said, "The first repair was a band aide we still had a wound under there the only way to repair it was through major surgery."

Neighbors in the area said they have been waiting a long time to see a hole in the road fixed. The portion of Rodgers Drive washed away during heavy rains in the spring.

“They’re going to do it right apparently this time,” said neighbor Susan Adkins. “So, we’re all really excited about that.”

The permanent solution in place is to be sure the road is flood damage proof. There will be a retaining wall to help hold up the soil and prevent collapse, according to city officials.

Adkins said the road has been a problem before.

“It’s probably fallen down about three or four times since we’ve lived here. They’ve always just patched it up, but this is by far the worst it’s ever been,” she said.

For many neighbors on Rodgers Drive, this is the only road in and out of the neighborhood. Residents said having both lanes open for drivers again will cut down on traffic and make the area safer.

“It’ll be nice that I don’t have to be as cautious and careful, even though I still do the speed limit, and hopefully people will do the speed limit and be aware that they can drive through there safely and sound,” said neighbor Barry Herzog. “And I don’t have to worry about cars coming both ways at each other.”

City leaders said they have hired a private contractor to work on the project. They have given the contractor about two months to complete construction.

“It’s definitely worth it, because it will be a permanent solution that will fix the issue forever. And hopefully we’ll never have to deal with this again in our lifetime,” Herzog said.

Engineers said residents should be prepared to see some travel inconveniences during construction.

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